Curses and CloseCalls
by Russ Spruce
Summary: Scene from "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption." What will happen when Paul and Logan tell the new paranoid screw about the ghost of Richard Alan Cote. One-shot. Read and Enjoy


_An added scene to "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption." This story takes place before the 1967 Pennant and after Andy gets his second Rock hammer. This story was the winner of the contest that my class held to decide whose story was the best. It is told in the usual style of Tell me how I did. _

It was late August when Andy, Logan, Paul and I were busy fixing up the trucks used by the guards to transport our food in from the outside. Byron Hadley and Jakob Anderson were the two lucky screws watching over us like vultures waiting for its meal to fester and die. I was busy working on the transmission when Hadley stormed towards me with a vengeance.

"Hey dick head, what in hell do you think you're doing?" His face was as red as one of them baboon's asses in those National Geographic magazines that Andy got from the library.

"What you mean sir?" I really had no idea what was wrong; I was doing my job like all the other broken prisoners so why would Hadley be pissed off at me?

"I'm talkin' bout that truck, your tryin' to kill me like you did with that bitch of yours! Go over there and work on the tires like a good dog." I wasn't going to cut the break cable, but Hadley had me thinking there for a moment. I pushed the thought out of my mind and went back to work on the tires of that old 1954 Ford 1/2 ton truck, listening to Hadley, now ranting about the Sox game that was coming up.

"There is no way that they are going to win the pennant, they'll trip over their feet and screw it up like always. Although I have to give them credit for getting this far, and this season is definitely somethin' to remember. But that damn curse is gonna cause them the screw up in the end." Anderson was nodding in agreement, even though he was born in Minnesota. Jakob Anderson was small and thin, about 5'6". He had blond hair that was slowly beginning to gray, as well as skin as white as the gruel he served on Tuesdays. He had pale-blue eyes that always seemed to pop out and have a wild look to them. He had a small hooked nose that made him look like an owl on speed. He became a member of our happy little family a few days ago, transferred from Ohio State in order to help him with his skin and get away from the ghosts. It was rumored that he saw the ghosts of the dead prisoners in Ohio, who reportedly died from suicide. Poor bastards, it seems to me that prison brutality was more likely. Maybe Anderson has something to hide, feels guilty, and is seeing things. He must have been scared out of his wits if he wanted to come up here to do the graveyard shift.

If there was anyone who was as gullible as Hadley was dumb, it was Anderson hands down. He wears a cross around his neck the size of my foot, and he always smelled of coconut and garlic to protect him from sunburn and that supernatural shit. That poor superstitious bastard ended up in one of them loony houses at the end of 68, due to the event that has occurred in this garage.

"I tell ya, the only way that the Sox are going to break that curse is when hell freezes over", said Hadley, drinking deep from a bottle of hootch that he confiscated from one of the prisoners in Cellblock 3.

"Yeah your right about that my friend, Minnesota will definitely win the pennant! Hey speaking of curses," Anderson's voice suddenly went quiet and low; I strained to hear what he was talking about. "Is the Shawshank haunted?" Hadley looked at him with a look of pure disgust.

"What the hell are you smoking? This place isn't haunted, what gave you such a dumb-ass idea?" Everyone in that garage was now listening in on the Pig's conversation, curious as to why Anderson was wondering if the Shawshank was really haunted. Although we all knew it wasn't, we couldn't resist listening anyway.

"Well, I was on the graveyard shift in Cellblock 5 a few nights ago, when at three o'clock I heard it. I heard a tapping noise, so I went down the hall and the tapping just stopped. So do you know what it was?" Hadley just stood there with a blank expression, and then exploded in laughter.

"They were right, you are a nut bag! You watch them, I'm gonna empty the trunk." As the blue belly walked to the gas house, I saw Paul with a wicked smile on his face.

"Hey Mr. Anderson, did you see Bobby last night?" Anderson suddenly went all bug-eyed and spun around to face Paul.

"W-w-what do you mean, Bobby who?" Jakob started to tremble slightly, as if he was stuck outside in February without a jacket.

"Well I don't wanna be dippin in the Kool Aid, but you might know him as Robert Alan Cote. He got in here by shooting six people, two of them his own! Poor Cote than got the bug in his brain and died last January, God rest his soul," said Logan, blessing himself to honor the fallen comrade. Logan and Cote use to work on the laundry shift together and always had a laugh about Norton and the other screws.

"W-w-w-well…w-w-w-why is he haunting this place?" Asked Anderson, teeth now chattering as if his balls were going to fall off from hypothermia.

"Red got Cote his penny collection from the outside, isn't that right Red?" I looked up and nodded.

"Yeah, that's about right", remembering how I was able to smuggle that penny collection into this house full of thieves.

"But you see, he died from one of them tumors in his brain. They say that Cote haunts the Shawshank, looking for his penny collection by tapping on the wall. He does this because he forgot where he hid it, 'cause of that tumor. Oh, and if he finds you in his 'territory' looking for his pennies, he'll…KILL YA!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Anderson shrieked at the top of his lungs like a little girl, running out of the garage as if he was being chased by Cote himself. Paul and Logan were on the floor laughing, holding their sides as if they were going to burst. I smiled at their enjoyment, those two always wanted to trick one of those screws.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Hadley was standing at the door of the garage, zipping up his pants with a look of anger and confusion on his face. He flared his nostrils and his face was quickly replaced with a look of disgust. "What is that smell!? It smells like shit. Okay, which one of you bastards took a dump here?" We all looked at each other and started laughing; knowing whom it was that took a shit in the garage. Hadley looked furious. He probably thought that we were laughing at him. "That's it! All of you are going to miss dinner tonight." Everyone groaned.

"Why? What did we do?" Asked Paul, pretending to be innocent but still wearing a grin from the spook.

"You caused Anderson to go nut up." And with that, Hadley walked away. I chuckled to myself, remembering the events that had just occurred and looked over to Andy to see his amused face, but instead of his usual smirk was a grimace. His face was sweaty and his eyes fearful, as if it was him that shit himself.

"Hey Andy, you alright?" Andy jumped a little when I addressed him, but he gave his signature half-smirk and nodded.

"Yeah I'm fine, pass me the monkey wrench will ya?"


End file.
